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Epic collection highlights how Arabic and Hebrew poetry was written, read and circulated in Jewish communities thousands of years ago
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Mirza Al Sayegh (left), Hind Al Mualla, Head of Creativity, Happiness and Wellbeing, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (second from left), Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Dr AG Abubaker Al Maktoum, Dean of the Faculty The Vice-Chancellor of the Institute of Higher Education (right) at the Hidden Literature Exhibition at Universities UK. — Photo by Shihab
For centuries, historians have relentlessly sought to uncover the hidden secrets of the ancient world. One of the most profound discoveries, however, came a century ago when a scholar at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom discovered a sobering collection of ancient manuscripts in a 1,000-year-old synagogue in Egypt.
The manuscripts have been hidden for centuries in the Genizah (meaning storehouse in Hebrew) and include poetry, from the classics to previously unknown works of Egyptian Jews during the Middle Ages and the Ottoman Empire.
Most importantly, the manuscript shows that while the Jewish community preferred to read poetry in their sacred language, Hebrew, they also read it in Arabic.
A team from the European Research Council-funded project “Arabic Poetry of Genizah in Cairo” has been holding workshops in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to draw public attention to the epic collection and highlight its impact on the world study of Arabic literary history.
Based at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, the project, in collaboration with the Genizah Research Group at the University of Cambridge, and hosting the Al Maktoum Institute of Higher Education in Dundee, Scotland, brought selected manuscript reproductions to the UAE for display.
In Hidden Literature, two women examine a remarkable collection of medieval manuscripts found in a synagogue in Al-Fustat, Old Cairo, in the late 19th century. — Photo by Shihab
NYU Abu Dhabi will exhibit the beautifully framed manuscripts until March 26, with the project potentially returning to Sharjah in the future.
“The significance of these manuscripts is that it shows that there has always been a dialogue between Jews and Muslims and that they respect each other,” said the late Mirza Sayegh, president of the Al Maktoum Institute of Higher Education. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, former deputy ruler and finance minister of Dubai.
Jews and their interest in Arabic literature
Mohamed AH Ahmed, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Trinity College. Dublin Review, which has been the driving force behind the project, said: “The fragments displayed in the exhibition show how Arabic and Hebrew poetry were written, read and circulated within the Jewish community thousands of years ago.
“What was most fascinating was seeing how the Jewish community at the time became interested in reading and disseminating this Arabic literature. It also demonstrates the shared culture and heritage between Muslims and Jews.”
“It also confirms the importance of the Cairo Genizah as a rich resource of Arabic literature and Arabic poetry, and suggests the need for further research on Arabic poetry there.
Sally Abed, Trinity College Studies, at the Hidden Literature Exhibition. — Photo by Shihab
Dr Ben Outhwaite, who has been Head of Genizah Studies at Cambridge University Libraries since 2006, added: “Genizah is the study of the Jews. We know that Jews love poetry and they write a lot of it in Hebrew and use it in prayers. But we also know that they took inspiration from some of the great Arabic poets in the Middle Ages”
For the past 140 years, researchers working in the manuscript rooms of Cambridge University Libraries and Trinity College have been studying scriptures and documents from the medical community.
Coexistence
One of them is Sally Abed, who describes some of the items in the exhibition as “sacred objects”.
“Cairo Genizah is about communication and coexistence,” she said. “It’s about culture, getting to know each other, and learning from those differences rather than fighting them. It’s very profound.
The collection includes works by Islamic scholars such as Shafi’i, and the free-thinking Al-Ma’arri, and showcases the diverse tastes and interests of this community at the heart of Islamic Egypt.
The Jewish community of Al-Fustat (Misr Al Qadima) devoutly observes Genizah customs, and they carefully preserve ancient liturgical scrolls, Bibles, prayer books and other sacred texts in a dedicated room within the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
In Jewish tradition, holy books containing the name of God cannot be destroyed or discarded, but must be buried or stored away once they have reached the end of their natural life.
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